26.07.2018

Farm Business Survey

farming Future of Rural Areas Promoting Rural Best practice Landex Askham Bryan College

The Rural Business Research Unit at Askham Bryan College is part of Rural Business Research; a national consortium of six Universities and Colleges delivering projects for government, levy-funded research bodies, research councils and commercial clients. The research undertaken includes specific regional studies, national data collection and analysis and the largest survey of its kind in this country, the Farm Business Survey, carried out by Defra.

The Farm Business Survey (FBS) is the Unit's main area of research which involves visiting around 300 farms each year; providing unrivalled information on the physical and economic performance of farm businesses in the region.

Other work undertaken includes undertaking independent research for clients such as the National Parks, Natural England and the Food Standards Agency. Furthermore, the Unit has expertise in the area of beef production with current work focusing on the development of a Benchmarking Discussion Group for Suckler Cow farmers with the aim of improving profitability and efficiency.

Project Title:
Farm Business Survey – Yorkshire, Lancashire & Cheshire

Start date:
Ongoing

Project Lead Staff:
Joe Bonner – Head of Unit

Project Partners:
Rural Business
Research (RBR)

Other Project Staff:
Lynne Stretton – Senior Research Officer, Martin Riley – Research Officer, Oliver White – Research Officer, Lucy Peacock – Research Officer, Anne Green – Research Officer, Simon Walton – Research Officer, Caroline Wilson – Administrative Assistant, Sue Brown – Administrative Assistant

Project Aims & Overview:
The Farm Business Survey provides information on the physical and economic performance of farm businesses in England; to inform policy decisions on matters affecting farm businesses.

It is intended to serve the needs of government, government partners, farming and land management interest groups, and researchers.

The Farm Business Survey is an annual survey commissioned by the government under which a range of management accounting information on all aspects of farmer's and grower's businesses is collected. The survey uses a sample of farms and horticultural units that is representative of the national population of farms in terms of farm type, farm size and regional location.

The Rural Business Research Unit, maintains and publishes FBS Farm Business Benchmarking. Rural Business Research - a consortium of six University Research Centres - carries out the Farm Business Survey in England.

In England the Farm Business Survey is conducted on behalf of, and financed by, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the data collected in it are Crown Copyright.

Project Partners include: University of Nottingham, University of Reading, University of Newcastle, University of Reading, Duchy College.